Left Turn at Albuquerque
by Weird
Summary: Sequel to And You Thought Larvae Were Bad and Effervescent Essence. I highly suggest you read the previous fictions.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Left Turn at Albuquerque   
Author: Harper's aka Weird_Peace  
Rating: PG-13  
Synopsis: Sequel to And You Thought Larvae Were Bad and Effervescent Essence. I highly suggest you read the previous fictions.  
Disclaimer: I don't own 'em, but I love 'em anyways.  
Spoilers: All around. 

---------------- 

"So the bug queen hasn't fallen to her knees and groveled out some sort of an apology." Harper narrowed his eyes at Dylan while leaning over a consul on Command. Dylan just sighed. 

"It wasn't the Than themselves that did it," Dylan explained to him for the third time. "It was a small terrorist group..." 

"It was two hundred freakin' ships!" 

"Than have thousands of children," Dylan reminded him. "The Than have been after these alleged traitors for awhile now. There's even rumors that they're only a small part of an even bigger organization." 

"Why did they attack us?" Harper wondered out loud. Dylan gave him one of _those_ looks. "Oh right. The shoot me sign on the hull." 

Harper stayed well out of reach knowing Dylan wasn't afraid to clip him. Harper would still be bugging Trance and Owen like he had been for the past nine days, but upon Trance's "insistence", Dylan had forced Harper to stay in Command for a few hours. 

"So have my annoying ways gotten to you yet?" Harper added a high-pitched whine to the end of his sentence for good measure. 

"I was trained by the High Guard," Dylan said. "And even they didn't prepare me for you. You're excused. I will happily let Trance break my arm for this." 

"It feels good to be loved," Harper said sarcastically but with glee. He had won another round. 

Harper dashed madly down the hallways and into his quarters. There was a scream and then the engineer could be seen backing quickly out of the room. 

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he whimpered with one hand over his eyes while the other groped for the keypad for shutting the door. The door successfully closed, more due to Rommie than Harper, and Harper uncovered his eyes. He stood outside the room, wondering if he should stay there to apologize when Trance came out or if he should try and get a head start. 

He shouldn't have bothered contemplating. Trance came out a few seconds later dressed in a loose gold robe, patting a fussy Owen on the back as he was leaning on her shoulder. Harper did not like that look on her face. 

"Knock." 

"It's my quarters!" he said defensively. "You should put up signs when you're feeding him! And it's not my fault you wanted to do it the natural way!" 

Trance rolled her eyes and held out Owen and a cloth. Harper accepted the punishment and began to burp the baby himself while she went back in the room to change into her usual clothing. The pixie was very happy to have almost regained her normal size. She was still a few pounds heavier, but Rommie was impressed. After nine days most women would just start getting back into daily routine, if even that. Trance had been up and moving after a day. The little pixie regained her strength awful quickly. 

Owen finally released a burp. 

"Hey, takin' after Daddy are we." Harper grinned. "You just way until we get to the alphabet. That'll come in real handy." 

"Not if I have a say in it." Trance said as she came back out in her normal garb. Owen smiled and reached out for a few dreadlocks that tickled his face as his mommy bent over to give him a kiss on the cheek. 

"Well since I can't separate you two, I'm going to go meditate in my quarters." Harper nodded. Despite Beka's earlier teasing, both Trance and he had not been prepared for the late night wailings. Trance was forced to do all the feedings, but Harper was nudged for changing and comfort. If not for Trance's daily meditations and the fact that Harper didn't tend to sleep much anyways, both parents would have gratefully let their child out of their sight for once to get some rest. 

Trance hurried to her quarters while Harper took Owen back into his. 

"What do you want to do right now?" Harper asked the energetic baby. All that research on feeding and nap times had gone to waste. Despite the fact their souls no longer shared a body, Owen had a connection with both mommy and daddy. True, the baby could no longer use colors and symbols to get his point across, but a mental nudge usually did the trick. 

"Mr. Bluefoot? Well if you insist." Harper laid Owen down on the bed and pulled out a plush Vedran Rommie had synthesized a few months ago when Owen was still a fetus in his mother's stomach. Owen beamed as his daddy walked Mr. Bluefoot up and down his stomach, and Harper smiled because Owen was happy. The bond of father and son continued to strengthen with such little things as these, and Harper couldn't help but think nothing could ruin this piece of perfection he had finally attained. 

It was not an unreasonable wish.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Left Turn at Albuquerque   
Author: Harper's aka Weird_Peace  
Rating: PG-13  
Synopsis: Sequel to And You Thought Larvae Were Bad and Effervescent Essence. I highly suggest you read the previous fictions.  
Disclaimer: I don't own 'em, but I love 'em anyways.  
Spoilers: All around. 

---------------- 

Trance gently cradled a sleeping Owen in one arm while moving the pillow behind her back with another. Harper had made the rocking chair she sat in when he was on one of his ancient earth babbles about customs. He had been talking about how his grandmother had a real rocking chair made out of actual wood. Trance smiled as she remembered the look on his face when he continued on about how his mother would tell him stories about sitting in that chair with her mother, and how she regretted not being able to keep the chair for him. 

Trance thought it was sweet and yet sad what Harper was doing. Humans couldn't change the past like her species could and occasionally did. Instead they often tried changing the past through the future, a technique that only worked about half the time. 

Owen blinked as he began to stir. The baby yawned and buried himself closer to the warmth of his mother. Trance stiffened as something akin to deja vu hit her. Deja vu usually didn't come attached to good things. 

Owen was suddenly very much awake. He stretched his tiny arms to one corner of the room, giving mommy a gentle mental nudge to let her know she needed to pay attention to him. Trance followed Owen's gaze and her arms tightened around her baby. Owen sensed his mother's fear and wrapped his tail firmly around her wrist. 

"It's too early," Trance whispered, her eyes locked on the only other person in the room. Loki pushed himself off the wall and walked over to her, his eyes softening as he looked at Owen. 

"You and I both know you've received more time than you're supposed to have," he said sternly. "I went to the council myself and had them prolong your period. But two weeks after the birth is two weeks too long." 

"Please Loki..." she begged him. "It shouldn't be like this." 

"It's not your place to decide how the universe works," Loki said. "We sometimes bend the rules, yes, but we do not break them." 

"And how do you or any of the others know this is what the universe intended for our children?!" Trance cried out, knocking the chair over as she stood up and backed away. Owen's tail was painfully digging into Trance's skin now, not that she noticed. Loki hesitated, knowing his sister had a way of manipulating words. If he allowed her to get to him this time, the consequences would be bad for all three persons in the room. 

"I knew I shouldn't have let you become attached. Why does this pain you so?" he finally asked, avoiding her question. "You knew what would happen from the beginning and yet you made no case against it." 

"I didn't know how hard it would be then," Trance said softly, stroking Owen's growing locks. "And you don't understand how much this would hurt Harper." 

"You haven't told him?" Loki rolled his eyes. "You know it only becomes worse that way." 

"I can't. And I don't want to have to," she replied. 

"Trance," Loki approached her and wrapped one arm around her shoulder while his tail snaked it's way around her waist. Trance looked like she didn't know whether to accept him or pull away. "If nothing else, think of the child." 

"I am." 

"No, you're not. This is a dangerous place for him to live. Disease, weapons of mass destruction, black hearts, corruption...the list goes on. The rules have only been made to make sure he lives a fulfilling life." Loki traced Owen's cheek with his tail. The baby giggled, grabbed the tail with one hand, and began to chew on the pointed tip. Loki grimaced, but didn't do anything else. 

"There is already talk amongst the people," he said so softly Trance almost didn't hear him. "You know prejudice exists in our society, and that Owen will not have an easy life being a halfling. But humans here will not accept him either. His only chance lies with your side of the family, and they won't accept him if he doesn't go through the proper procedures." 

"Do you want him to be an outcast? Like you?" 

Loki's last words stung simply because they were laced with so much truth. Trance pulled out of his grasp and walked away, holding Owen out in front of her as if examining the child. Could he take it? Could she take it? Owen looked back at his mother with the innocence and trust only a child could have. He smiled, his eyes finally leaving Trance's as she pulled his small body into a tight embrace, a few tears leaking out of the corner of her eyes. She quickly turned and held out her son. 

"Just take him!" Trance cried, never daring to open her eyes. Loki grasped the baby and pulled him into his arms. Owen blinked as if taken aback by his mother's actions, and then started to bawl as if he knew what fate awaited him. Loki didn't bother saying anything else; he just left. 

And Owen went with him. 

---------------- 

"Harper, are you ok?" Andromeda looked down at her engineer with concern. Just a few seconds ago he had gasped and dropped his tool, the human's face turning completely white as he did so. 

"Something's wrong." Harper stood up and bolted towards his quarters, not needing Rommie's assistance in finding Trance. The mental kick he had just received scared the hell out of him. But not as much as finding Trance sitting in the rocking chair he had built for her and Owen, looking very much like she had died for the hundredth time. 

Truthfully, Harper's heart actually skipped a few beats before the golden pixie turned to her head towards him to confirm she was alive. Trance's eyes were haunted, and her appearance almost made Harper forget something was missing. 

Almost. 

"Where's Owen?" he choked out, frantically looking around the room. Trance turned away, afraid to look at Harper. This only served to panic him more. 

"Where's Owen?!" he asked shrilly, grabbing Trance's arm almost too roughly. 

"He's gone."


	3. Chapter 3

Title: Left Turn at Albuquerque   
Author: Harper's aka Weird_Peace  
Rating: PG-13  
Synopsis: Sequel to And You Thought Larvae Were Bad and Effervescent Essence. I highly suggest you read the previous fictions.  
Disclaimer: I don't own 'em, but I love 'em anyways.  
Spoilers: All around. 

---------------- 

"Gone? What do you mean gone?" Harper sank to his knees in front of Trance, clasping her hands so hard his knuckles were turning white. 

"Harper," Trance started, still too afraid to dare look him in the eyes. "I've kept a lot of secretes about my species from you, but this time I was severely unfair. I...I don't think you'll ever forgive me." 

Harper didn't say anything; the worry in his eyes only grew stronger. Everything Trance was doing, everything she was saying, only continued to scare him. Harper hated fear, and if she didn't do something soon, Trance was going to have to deal with a very angry engineer. 

"When Perseids have children, they are not raised by the parents. Instead the government feels it is best if they are the ones to raise the child. The parents are allowed limited contact with their son or daughter." Trance winced as Harper's grip turned unbearably hard and he went entirely stiff. She gently pried him off of her before continuing. 

"We deal with children the same way," she said. "The council takes them and raises them into fit individuals." There was a long pause while Trance allowed Harper to digest the information. He had sat back on his heels with his hands in his lap. The young man's eyes were distant as if he had mentally taken himself away so he wouldn't have to deal with any of it. 

"When do we get to see him again?" Harper finally asked, his voice calm with an edge of ice to it. This was the part Trance dreaded most of all. 

"In two years." 

"And how long will he stay with us?" Harper's voice had not changed. 

"After the two years, he is ours to keep," Trance said carefully, her words guarded. Harper seemed to be brought back to reality. He blinked a few times and looked up at Trance, knowing there was something more. There was always a catch. 

"What aren't you telling me?" Harper asked. "And Trance, I swear if you lie to me this time, all the love I have for you won't protect you." Trance was taken aback by the darkness in those words. She almost expected his eyes to be alight. 

"It means two years of time will pass here. Since Owen has my blood in him, he will only look in his early twenties even though sixty years will pass where he's training," she answered softly. Harper's mouth opened and closed for a few minutes as he tried to form words. He swallowed and tried again. 

"So when Owen, my _son_," Trance winced again, "comes back to us, he will be an adult. He will have grown even past my years. I will have missed his first step, his first word, his first loose tooth..." Harper sat back and pulled his knees to his chest, his hands pulling at his hair as he waded through so much emotional turmoil he thought he would burst. 

"Harper, please let me explain..." Trance reached out to place a hand on his shoulder. Harper slapped it away and Trance pulled back like a wounded animal. "I didn't want him to become an outcast. My people would have never accepted Owen if he didn't go through these courses and trails." 

"Does their acceptance matter so much that you felt you had to give away our son?" Harper asked, voice dripping with malice. 

"Yes," Trance said honestly. Harper shook his head and started to giggle. "Harper, Owen is going to outlive you by many years, and when you're gone, my people will be the only ones who will accept him. The people here will never love him..." 

"But I did love him!" Harper screamed, standing over her. His 5'6" stance suddenly towered over the gold pixie that remained seated. "And you ripped him away." 

"That's not true!" Trance was standing now as well. "I sent him somewhere safer where he would be protected." 

"You don't think I would've done everything in my power to keep him safe?" Harper started laughing again. "That's just typical of you Trance, isn't it?" 

"Harper, you don't understand what the consequences are," she pleaded. 

"Oh I understand. I have it down perfectly well. Owen's going to be his mommy's little boy. He's going to grow up with a bunch of your people and learn your rules. He'll be secretive and think of me as a silly little human, right Trance?" Harper snarled. 

"I do not think that way," Trance countered. 

"Whatever. To you we don't even have feelings. We're just toys for you to play with and manipulate." Harper was surprised his eyes were dry. But then again, he had cried so much over the past few months, he felt there was nothing left to give. "That's all you've ever done Trance. You didn't care about me when this whole thing started, you just wanted a kid. You've lied, you held back information, you said and did things without consulting me, and I bet you never even stopped to think about what this would do to me..." 

"You're being unfair!" Unlike Harper, Trance was crying hard. "Harper, I wanted to die every time I thought about what giving up Owen would do to you. I tried to think of ways to get past it, but I couldn't. I was so scared, and you're right, I was wrong not to tell you sooner," she admitted. "But I only did it to protect you." 

"Protect me?" he hissed, glaring at her. "You're going to make Owen just like you." 

"They'll teach him about human customs too." Trance was trying to make things right again, but only fell back into misery as Harper shook his head. 

"No, not that. Just like you came back from the future, all grown up Trance. Do you remember that day?" Harper asked. "Even then you didn't think about how it would affect us all. You just changed places and suddenly instead of my innocent purple princess I had some golden warrior queen to deal with. And now, now instead of my innocent little baby, god only knows what I'll be handed in the next two years." 

"Tell me how to get him back," Harper demanded. Trance shook her head. 

"You can't get him back. My people won't listen to you. And you don't have the abilities nor the concepts to reach Owen." 

"But you do," he said. "And they will listen to you." 

"I can't risk taking him back," Trance said, wiping away the fresh tears that were threatening to fall. "I'm sorry." 

"Apologize all you want." Harper was completely cold in tone and manner. He looked the picture of living death. "You were right. I will never forgive you for this. I want you out of my quarters within the next hour, or I will have Andromeda toss you out." Trance sobbed harder as he went on. "I am not leaving this ship, and I won't force you to either, but I'll tell you right now Trance. I'm going to avoid you. I'm not going to speak to you unless I have to. I suggest you stay out of my way from now on." 

By now the former golden goddess was now just a broken golden alien on her knees, clutching her stomach as if in pain as her body racked with sobs. Harper stared at her as if she were an obstacle to step over; machines had more worth. He turned and walked out of the room, leaving Trance in her misery. And all he could think of was that it was about time she got knocked off her high horse.


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Left Turn at Albuquerque   
Author: Harper's aka Weird_Peace  
Rating: PG-13  
Synopsis: Sequel to And You Thought Larvae Were Bad and Effervescent Essence. I highly suggest you read the previous fictions.  
Disclaimer: I don't own 'em, but I love 'em anyways.  
Spoilers: All around. 

---------------- 

This was going to be hell. Trance looked at the doors to the Command Deck. The hardest part was out of the way, but telling the others wasn't going to be...what was the term? As easy as pie - that was it. Trance allowed a fleeting smile before biting down on her lip. The golden warrior pulled together every bit of confidence she owned and strode through the doors. Beka, Dylan, and Rev turned to look at her with bright smiles while Tyr just ignored her. But the Nietzschean finally looked up upon noticing nobody was speaking. Dylan and Beka had lost their smiles at the look on Trance's face. 

Harper apparently hadn't said anything yet, but this only mildly surprised Trance. Either he was still too upset, or he was going to leave the pixie to her punishment. The two of them avoiding each other wouldn't have caused much of a stir; it happened so often now with their tense relationship always on and off like the lights of the ship. But both Harper and Trance knew someone would have to explain this time around. The crew would definitely question a missing baby. 

"What's up Trance?" Beka was the first to speak up. She was gentle if not a bit concerned, and at that moment, Trance wished that she could once again be the innocent little purple girl whom everyone treated like a child. Harper, Beka, Rev, and her would be in the Maru's sleeping quarters. She could sit back and listen in as Harper and Beka reminisced about their past, occasionally breaking out in a pillow or food fight as one teased the other. Rev would laugh at this and correct Harper when he would make mistakes or share piece of insight with them. It would be the cozy, happy family she had missed so much. 

Instead Trance was here on the Command Deck of the Andromeda an Ascendant, ominous warrior woman out of place among these souls bound together by destiny. The only past she would talk about was that of which happened a few minutes before, and this past would bring no laughter or comfort. 

"I've given Owen to my family," she said bluntly. It seemed time slowed until it almost stopped as the others stared at her in shock. 

"You…you what?" Dylan shook his head as if to deny what he had just heard. 

"In order for Owen to learn the ways of my people and be fully accepted by them, he must abide by their rules for the first sixty years of his life..." Trance stopped as her voice began to waver. She took a few seconds to regain her composure. "Two years will pass in this realm of existence, but when Owen returns, he will be a full adult." 

"And Harper was ok with this?" Beka asked a little disbelieving. Rev and Tyr stared at Trance, both already knowing the answer. 

"I..." Trance looked down, finally showing shame. "I didn't tell him before I gave up Owen," she whispered. 

Dylan and Beka stood in stunned silence while Rev regarded Trance with partial sympathy and part disdain. Tyr marched quickly towards her making Trance back away a little. Sure, she could take the Nietzschean, but it didn't mean she wanted to engage in a fight with him. Tyr's eyes flickered towards her hand, which was trailing down near her weapons. 

"Don't flatter yourself," he growled, striding right past her and off Command. Trance watched him go before returning to the others. Rommie still hadn't made her presence known, though Trance was sure she was listening. 

"How could you Trance?" Beka asked, the tears apparent in her eyes. 

"Beka..." she started. 

"No. Just listen. No talking right now." Beka looked absolutely determined to have her say. "I took you onboard my ship because I thought you could handle the job I set up for you. And you know what Trance? You did. And the best part was, that not only did you become our EMS officer, but you became our little sister as well...our friend! What ever happened to you Trance?" Beka studied Trance as if there was some part of the other girl she couldn't see but had to be there, and upon discovery of this hidden piece of the puzzle, she could rearrange the pixie in the form she wanted. 

"To tell you the truth, Beka," Trance replied softly, looking up at her friend with honesty in her eyes, "I'm not sure myself." 

Beka remained there as she tried to decide which emotion she should display. Finally, something near annoyance crossed with a mix of confusion and anger settled upon her features, and she stalked off the deck after Tyr. Trance stood where she had started out with, waiting for Dylan and Rev to go as well as Rommie if the ship ever decided to have her say. Both remained silent and still, waiting Trance out. The normally patient pixie could no longer take it. 

"Yell at me already!" she cried out at them. 

"Why do you feel you need to be yelled at?" Rev finally asked. "Certainly you do not need to be punished if what you did was right." 

"But what I did was wrong!" Trance frowned, frustrated. All the others had made that point all too clear. 

"Then why do it?" Rev inquired. Trance blinked, taken aback even more by this otherwise simple question than anything Harper had said to her before. 

"I...giving up Owen wasn't wrong," she finally decided after careful thought. "I had to for his betterment." 

"Trance," the priest slowly approached her. "I have found that in all my years of study, people are more truthful when they do not have time to twist their words." Trance started up, but he stopped her. "I just wonder if it was _you_ who truly wanted to give Owen up." 

With that he left her to Dylan. 

"It's not that you turned Owen over to your family," the captain finally told her. "I think we all understand that you would only do what's best for your child. The problem," Dylan continued, pushing off from one of the consuls, "is that you didn't talk to anyone of us about it, not even Harper." 

"He would have protested." 

"Don't you think he had the right to?" Dylan raised his hands in mock surrender. "I am not going to get in the middle of this unless it affects the efficiency aboard this ship. I think this is something best left up to you and Harper, and I guess whoever else wants to get involved. We all make mistakes, Trance. In the past, you've had...unique ways of fixing those mistakes." 

"I can't fix this by messing with time," she scolded. Dylan nodded. 

"Might I dare suggest that you then try a more...human approach?" Dylan smiled as if it might have been the last joke he would ever tell and then turned back to his consul, being the only one left on Command to watch over the ship. Trance decided that Rommie was going to punish her with the silent treatment, and instead left to return to her quarters. 

She had some thinking to do.


	5. Chapter 5

Title: Left Turn at Albuquerque   
Author: Harper's aka Weird_Peace  
Rating: PG-13  
Synopsis: Sequel to And You Thought Larvae Were Bad and Effervescent Essence. I highly suggest you read the previous fictions.  
Disclaimer: I don't own 'em, but I love 'em anyways.  
Spoilers: All around. 

---------------- 

"Dammit!" Harper growled and hurled the tool across the room. The corner of the pad actually gained a brand new dent as it hit the opposite wall with a satisfying bang. Harper glared down at the consul. Nothing, nothing, and more nothing. 

"I'm not going to lose him!" he screamed for nothing but for the sake of screaming. Harper took a few deep breaths to try and calm himself and then started again. 

If a nova bomb were to go off on the Andromeda, Harper would bet every throne he had that Dylan, Tyr, and Trance would survive it. Dylan because the captain had enough luck to create five stars and a chocolate milk shake. Tyr out of sheer freakin' will. And Trance, as long as she was in her quarters, simply because of the fortifications. Oh sure, it looked like your normal quarters, but Harper found out soon enough that the room was like Trance herself. Appearances hardly meant anything. 

Harper didn't know where to start looking for Owen. The only thing he knew about Trance's family was that she had a brother Harper would like to see skewered over a pit of Magog. So his best try for the moment was trying to hack into Trance's files and past her security so he could pay a visit to her quarters later on when he was sure she wasn't there. Unfortunately breaking in was going to take awhile, and time was not something Harper had much of. 

Yes, yes, yes! he thought as the virtual wall crumbled under his fingertips. Harper hit a few buttons; in his mind's eye Owen was already safely snuggled in his arms. Then the baby vanished as Vedran lettering flashing 'Intruder' knocked the engineer back five steps and threw up a few more traps to spite him. 

Harper stared at the screen for what seemed like hours. The chime sounded, but he ignored it the first three times. 

"Harper?" 

"Go away," he mumbled softly, but loud enough so that Beka could understand him. 

"Don't make me hotwire this door," she threatened. Harper glared at Beka through the solid metal. "And don't give me that look either," she said knowingly. 

"You can't break Andromeda's locks," he said. 

"You're the one that taught me." Harper may not be a cunning linguist, but he knew all the "good" Vedran words. Beka would probably yell at him later, but right now Harper was beyond caring. He allowed a soft growl to escape before pounding the key to open the door. 

Beka raised an eyebrow as Harper continued to look busy by shuffling some things around and searching a few files. He knew she knew, he knew she knew he knew, and he knew she knew he knew she knew. Why didn't she take the hints that he didn't want to talk? 

"I know you don't want to talk about it," Beka said, making Harper wonder if she had picked up something from Trance. 

"So leave," he told her, even angrier she had made him think about Trance. 

"I will," she said softly. "I just wanted you to know that we're all here for you if you need us." 

Beka didn't need to tell him that, but Harper had to admit it felt better hearing it said out loud. He sighed and stopped his work because Beka didn't deserve to be treated like crap when it was Trance's doing all along. He actually took the time to look up at Beka. Sorta. Harper's eyes kept darting back and forth between Beka's face and other objects scattered around him. He knew that if their eyes met, she would be able to see everything, and Harper wouldn't be able to hold any of it from her. 

"I know. Thank you, I appreciate it very much," he said sincerely. Beka stayed around, hoping for more. Harper wanted her to leave, so he forced his tone to become harsher. "But I have a lot of work to do, and I want to do it _alone_." 

"Seamus..." Beka grabbed Harper's chin, forcing his head up. His eyes danced across her face and into the area around her. "Seamus look at me." 

Harper had known that voice for five years, and the will to obey it was too strong to fight. Blue gazed into blue, and Harper could only wish Trance's defenses would crumble as easy as his were at that moment. Beka's eyes were warm, full of concern and sorrow. They invited her friend to place his burden on her. 

"She didn't even bother to ask me," he whispered. "She just gave him away. I gave her everything...and she always turned me away..." 

"I'm sure there were reasons..." Beka began. 

"To hell with the reasons!" Harper pulled out of her grasp. "I want my son back!" 

"I didn't say I agreed with what Trance said or did," Beka stated firmly. "Right now I have some many regrets I can hardly think straight. I regret ever yelling at you about Coco. For not seeing this coming. Not being able to comfort you like you need to be right now." She leaned back against Harper's mattress, smoothing the sheets with her fingertips. "Sometimes I wish I had never accepted Dylan's offer. Things might've been easier." 

"Don't go sayin' that, Beka," Harper said with a half sigh. "You and I both know Rommie and Dylan are the best thing that ever happened to us..." 

"Besides Owen," she finished for him. Harper looked up at the ceiling, and as he studied the panels Beka studied him. When he had first come onboard the Maru, Seamus Zelazny Harper could've easily been mistaken for a young teenage punk who would knock you out from behind with something large and metal simply for your shoes. He was a mangy mutt; a wilted rose whose thorns where still as sharp as a new razor. 

Over the course of six years, Beka had watched as he grew up. No, that was wrong. Harper had grown up long before they had ever met. She had just helped him chip away parts of the protective emotional shell he hid behind, bringing out some of the more lovable (along with a few more annoying) characteristics of her engineer. His real smile, some modesty, a touch of courage even. One wouldn't think it, but besides engineering and girls, Harper had a rather low self-esteem problem. Beka had made sure he felt accepted among her crewmates. 

Harper was more like Trance that he knew. Overall, he was near impossible to peg down. Just when you thought all Harper did was quip and leer, he surprised you with a loyal action, an intellectual comment, or even a friendly gesture. His likes and dislikes changed as easily as the color of her hair. Harper could easily turn a killing choke into a lovable hug. He was an old man hidden behind the facade of a child in the body of a young adult. 

"I'm getting him back," Harper said at last, the normally mirth-filled gaze one of absolute seriousness. Beka took this all in and nodded. 

"What do you need me to do?"


	6. Chapter 6

Title: Left Turn at Albuquerque   
Author: Harper's aka Weird_Peace  
Rating: PG-13  
Synopsis: Sequel to And You Thought Larvae Were Bad and Effervescent Essence. I highly suggest you read the previous fictions.  
Disclaimer: I don't own 'em, but I love 'em anyways.  
Spoilers: All around. 

---------------- 

Harper looked up and down the corridor of the Andromeda even though he didn't need to. Dylan, Tyr, and Rommie had gone to Vialne III to meet with the Lupus Pride on their current military proceedings. There was something about an explosion and loss of workers...Harper wasn't exactly concentrating at the time on the details. The most important thing about the event is that Dylan had agreed to take Trance with him. Beka had just happened to hint that if Harper and Trance had some apart time to work out their differences, the tension on the ship might lower to something you could cut with a butter knife. 

Now the salvage captain was busy distracting Rev, and Harper had easily diverted Andromeda's sensors from his location. The ship would most likely be pissed at first, but hopefully Rommie would understand later. Three weeks had already passed, Harper's anxiety only growing with each second. His friends had to remind him to eat and often force him to sleep. The engineer had run out of his huge stores of Sparky already and became dependant on Andromeda's ability to make coffee. He was dead tired as it was right now. But he wasn't going to let this deter him. 

Harper pushed down his goggles and pulled out his trusty laser saw. If he couldn't hack through Trance's defenses, he'd just go the basic route. Harper started to cut into the metal, frowned, tried again, then turned off the saw and pushed the goggles back up. He ran his hand over the smooth metal of the door. It wasn't marred the least bit. He tried his nanowelder but received the exact same results. Even small explosives only left soot marks. 

Harper blinked at the door, trying to think of something, anything that would let him get in. He couldn't get past the keypad since it was programmed to change it's code randomly every 9.453 seconds. It was a mystery how Trance knew the right one to get in her room. All vents into the pixie's room were conveniently missing. Harper's frustration began to rise, and like many emotions, Harper's frustration was quickly transforming into anger. 

In order to get into Trance's room, Harper would have to think like Trance. The problem with that was the pixie was truly an enigma. Harper had never expected this situation to arise in the first place because he never guessed Trance would ever give up his child. Had he even an inkling, Harper would've done everything to prevent the event from taking place. 

The door is hopeless, he thought despairingly. Why do I even bother with it? 

That's when it struck him. But it couldn't be that easy, could it? 

_"The simplest solution is usually the right one,"_ Trance had once told the young man. _"Sometimes I fear you over think things Harper. Sometimes you just have to accept something for what it appears to be and not what you think is hiding under the surface. People will surprise you that way."_

Harper sighed and decided to go for it. He was out of options anyway. He stepped to the right and stood in front of the wall next to the door. The saw cut through it like a starving man through a loaf of bread. Trance must of thought Andromeda would try to stop anyone cutting into her quarters. And if she didn't, well, who would think that if the door was so well guarded, the walls would be any better? 

It was either that or Trance _really_ liked her riddles. 

------------------ 

Trance stared at the table top, drawing pictures with the sweat running off her glass of water. She looked at the globes and triangles, tracing a path among them wit the tip of her pinky. The golden pixie was bored. Tyr was piloting, Dylan was looking over some important information, and Trance didn't even bother to try Rommie. She had guessed wrong when she thought the ship would just ignore her as punishment. First the food she ordered was actually toxic, and later just rotten. Ice water showers and alarms going off at various times during the night were a common occurrence. And the face that the gravity seemed to increase and decrease whenever Trance was walking alone only served to remind her when it's engineer suffered, the ship did too. 

Dylan had first politely asked Andromeda to quit. She had responded that since losing his son, Harper was having eating and sleeping troubles. Well Trance had lost a child too. Wasn't it logical, then, that the pixie should receive all the "benefits" that had been bestowed upon Harper? Dylan ended up resorting to directly ordering the ship to take care of _all_ of her crew. 

Andromeda was wrong. Trance had been suffering. She often fell asleep crying. She knew she was losing her baby with every ticking second, and Trance believed she could feel Owen as he slipped away each of those seconds. 

Trance sighed again, this time causing Dylan took look up from his flexi and frown in her direction. Rev and he had been the only two who continued to talk to Trance beyond needing to. The captain shuffled through his papers and handed a stack to Trance. 

"Trance, read those and then write a summary on them. Makes my job a lot easier." She nodded gratefully to which Dylan smiled before going back to his work. 

---------------- 

Harper stood back as the rest of the metal peeled away from the wall. He stood there for a few moments, letting the fact he had won one round soak into his mind. But he couldn't stay there for long. This was just the battle, the war was far from over. 

The young man stepped to the side and looked into the gaping hole at the room beyond, grateful there was no one around to hear the small gasp that passed his lips.


	7. To All My Readers An Apology

I have discontinued this fiction. I no longer am able to make the ending I should have in comparison with what happened on the show. My skills as a writer have also increased. As well, I have lost much of the like I once had for Andromeda. I am terribly sorry to all my fans and readers.

If someone wishes to continue, e-mail me with the subject: _Continuing Andromeda Fiction_, and we'll work something out.


End file.
